This blog is dedicated for testing recent paragliders and flying gear.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Triple Seven KING ! S & M

Triple Seven KING

Triple Seven KING

Triple Seven gliders was founded by two PWC flying brothers, that used
to work with several manufacturers and their reputation at the time was
the fast flying ability and the competition at the highest level.

Triple Seven was born and their first products in the B and C category
were the Rook 1 and the amazing Queen which still has the best glide at
full speed for a C glider !
Then came the Rook 2 which sits on the top places with the best performers in the B category with a very good accessibility.
The gliders made by the Valic brothers, seems to inherit a high
performance aim with a relatively comfortable handling each in their
respective category.

Now the King EN-D is here…
The King has a strong shark nose with a 3 line layout. The lower lines
are small but sheathed, the mid and upper ones are thin and unsheathed,
and the extremities + the brake line geometry are very thin micro lines.
I have the S size (75-95) which i flew from 90 all up till 95, and the M size (90-110) flown at 107.5 all up.
My recent D gliders for this comparison are: The Mantra 6 SM and ML, the Peak 4 21 and 23 , the Avax XC 5 26, the IP 6 23 .

Launching the King S and M in, 5 km/h to + 15 km/h , needs a steady pull
to accompany the glider. It’s a slightly slower than an M6 to reach
overhead, but it’s surely very easy for a D glider as it goes up in one
compact piece !

Flying the King S with the same X-Rated 6 harness i used for all the
mentioned gliders, showed me at 93 all up, a moderate to agile glider
and could be similar to the Mantra 6 SM agility flown at the same weight
also.
The brake travel is short to moderate, resembling also the M6 SM brake travel .
The differences in thermal entry is that the King S pitches slightly back a little before entering.
The King M flown at 108 doesn’t have that pronounced pitch back movement and gives a neutral one instead.
The King could be described as a comfortable D glider when flown in moderate turbulence.
Flying the glider is some nasty ‘winter’ turbulent air, the King needs
more active piloting than a Mantra 6 MS and slightly less piloting than a
Peak 4 21 i was test flying at the same time.
The glider movements in some lee side thermals are sharp with always a
marked back pitch on the S rather than a forward pitch. The M size
showed me a more neutral pitch.
Of course sometimes it pulls you to the thermals, but in the relatively
“moderate” turbulence conditions i flew it in, (only the summer
conditions will give a better idea) , i found it easy to control the
forward pitch, and in some macaroni stuff, i wished for a more neutral
pitch on the S size.

The climb rate performance for both the S and the M size in very weak
thermals (0.3m/s) is moderate to good resembling the Peak 4 one.
Once the thermals are steady and homogenous the very good
maneuverability of the King doesn’t loose any weak thermal, and the flat
turning ability, helps immensely to stay in the core. It has much
better climb than the Queen in small conditions even loaded.
In those very weak conditions the M6 could still have a slight
insignificant edge in float-ability…But i’m being too picky…as you
already know

Now comes the glide part.
Doing some glides with the M6, Peak 4, IP 6, showed me for several times
a superiority in gliding power for the King S and for sure the M size !
For instance the M6, MS (80-95) at 93 compared to the King M (90-110)
flown at 108, gave the King a full + 2 km/h trim speed and for sure an
impressive glide angle, like from another dimension ! It looked like
chasing a full CCC competition glider !
Flying the King S (75-95) at 93 all up next to a Peak 4 23 (85-105),
gave me the same big visual advantage in glide for the King S and as we
both used the speed bar, the differences became larger to my favor !
The top speed of the Peak 4 23 is still around +3 km/h more similarly loaded versus the King S size.
I found it that especially around 45- 47 km/h the king glide angle is remarkably better !
I was never expecting a clear visual glide difference ! Usually there’s a
small glide difference between newly tested gliders.But not this time !
The King does have indeed an amazing glide…or should i say:
The glide angle is worthy of a King !
The IP 6 23, still has also more top speed (+ 6 km/h) , over the King S, followed by the M6 (+ 2 km/h) .
I measured the King S top speed at 1000 ASL with 93 all up around 56 km/h with overlapping pulleys.
The glide at that speed is very nice, but i felt that the best glide is
around ± 46 km/h for the S size which many XC pilots use frequently.
I found that racing at that speed through moderate turbulent air is quite usable as i was able to keep my feet on the pedal.

Big ears are easy to induce with a stable behavior and efficient descent rate at -3m/s with full bar.
They open smoothly !

Conclusion:
The King is the new reference in gliding power in the D category .
It seems that Triple Seven has built a powerful, fairly accessible, agile, gliding machine for “experienced” D pilots.
Upgrading from the Queen is logical if it was already flown easily for two seasons in strong conditions.
I’m sure that any C or D pilot test flying the King, will be shocked by this superb gliding Albatros

UPDATE: After flying over 30 hours on the S size
from 90 to 94 all up, i realized a change in trim speed .After email
exchange with 777, it was obvious that the A's are slightly stretching
by 0.5 cm and maybe the B's slightly...
I found the best way to re-trim this S size is by releasing the two (inner) C loops .The outside C loop stays . (confirmed by 777). Bearing in mind that the S size has no loops on the A's and B's .
You will be impressed that by releasing this loop (0.7 cm) on the inner
C loops you will have a completely different glider ! In this
configuration, the S size is more dynamic but still very compact, faster
trim speed +1km/h , direct and beautiful handling...! Still solid and
usable on full bar !
The M and L size are trimmed differently...There are simple loops 0.7 cm
and cowboy loops 1 cm .Please contact your 777 dealer before any
change.

Hello Ziad, thank you for your review, we were very curious about your findings. It is also very nice to have you test fly both the S and the M size of the King. I am just a little surprised that you could fly the M at 107kg, we all know your naked weight so that means you have carried a lot of water, I guess. If you don’t mind I would like to have your point of view concerning the “thermal sniffer ability” of the King. I have always loved the way the Trango XC2 sniffed out thermals, I read that the TXC3 does the same, maybe even better, the King has “floating tips” so I wonder if it helps to catch the core of light lift or not. Does it cut through the air like a IP6 does or not. Of course, sniffy glider also means, very often, more work load has this type of glider are moving around a little more than some others (but I like it, personally, makes you better feel what is going on around you). My second question would concern the floatability of the King, I understood it is a very little less floaty than the M6 but how would you compare it to the IP6 23 at 98kg or a carefully loaded GTO2, let’s say a M size loaded at 100kg? And, I am sorry, just very curious, did you fly the King M size at mid weight range to try out, I am planning to fly it around 102kg and wonder how it will behave, I read somewhere that the Triple Seven gliders can be flown at mid weight a bit like a UP glider, I try to find out what’s the optimum weight with best sink rate and brake authority. Thanks again for any kind of comment. Ivan

Hi Ivan,I understand what you mean. I need to fly the M size more at different loadings and especially near the mid weight to be able to comment on the float ability.This is the rainy season...hopefully in the next 20 days...Cheers, Ziad

Wonderful review as usual! I have however fallen into a pit of confusion as my english comprehension has failed me in regards to a few of your sentences ... could you help clear up a couple of things for me:

1. Quote: "Flying the King S (75-95) at 93 all up next to a Peak 4 23 (85-105), gave me the same big visual advantage in glide for the King S and as we both used the speed bar, the differences became larger to my favor !"

Here it seems to say the King S is faster then the Peak4 23

2. Quote: "The top speed of the Peak 4 23 is still around +3 km/h more similarly loaded versus the King S size"

Here is seems you are saying the Peak4 23 is faster than the King S, contradicting the first quote.

3. Quote: "The IP 6 23, still has also more top speed (+ 6 km/h) , over the King S, followed by the M6 (+ 2 km/h)"

Here you are saying the IP6 23 is 6km/h faster than the King S ... but it also seems that the M6 is 2km/h faster then the King S, however, earlier you indicted the King S was faster then the M6.

I hope Ziad doesn't mind me replying on his blog. Having flown the Trango xc3 for most of last season and now having a few hours under the small King I think you will find the King a big step in performance and big step down in terms of wing management. It is much easier to fly than the UP. Cheers Martin

Thanks Peter. I'm thinking of stepping down to Cayenne 5 for agility and climb and then going back up the class to perhaps King later. If the King has the climb and feedback and can give me the confidence in strong turbulence then its the wing for me. Sometimes the higher rated gliders are more comfortable than the lower.

Hi KY,The King feels like an easy D.i think the upgrade from the mantra 4 will be very natural. They could be similar in comfort...plus a very agile and short brake response to the King versus the M4.Cheers Ziad

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GLIDE MEASUREMENTS ! NUMBERS and obsession !!! :-)

Looking at the glide numbers, is like seeing a beautiful food dish just before tasting it ....Knowing that all measurements are made in calm air(no thermals), and in those conditions we practicably "don't" fly.Thermal flying and transitions are made in moving air,and in those conditions a glider can change from its good performance on paper to less performance in real air and the opposite also.

Glider X that has a glide of 8.5 on paper, could reach the other side much higher than glider Y that have a glide of 9.0 on paper.Why? Because the ability of glider X in head wind glides and moving air is much better than glider Y in converting those bumps to lift and still moving forward ,rather than ,when hitting those lifts glider Y stops and dive loosing the glide.

Glide measurements are pure marketing ,but they still are interesting in putting some spices under the pilots nose ;-) .

Glides wingtip to wingtip in different conditions will show gliders ability much better.And that's why i do the videos.May be we should have a coefficient in efficiency rather than a poor "glide number" on paper. ;-)

BEST GLIDER

Comparisons are only to get an idea what the glider will be and feel like.Some like it soft on the brakes ,others find it too jumpy...But the best glider is the one that each individual pilot will have the most fun with.For some it could be the glider that out-climb or out-glide your club mates....But for most ,it is the one that will give you a smile and a satisfying happy feeling immediately after you land.That's the glider you must choose.So there is no best glider rather than best feeling for a glider.Fly SAFE,Ziad.